Artist:Jimmy Cliff
Song:Sitting In Limbo
Album:The Harder They Come
The 1972 cult film The Harder They Come and the soundtrack played a big part in popularizing reggae in North America. Jamaican superstar Jimmy Cliff starred. He was born James Chambers Apr. 1, 1948 in St. James, Jamaica. He moved to Kingston at age 14. He renamed himself Jimmy Cliff to indicate the heights he was going to climb. Another Jamaican music legend Derrick Morgan discovered Cliff and took him to producer Leslie Kong. Though most Jamaican singers would flit around to various producers, Cliff stayed with Kong until Kong's 1970 death. This paid off with many hits in the 60s. Chris Blackwell licensed Cliff's music for release in England on Island Records and convinced Cliff to move there in 1968. Island licensed Cliff to A & M Records in the US and songs like Wonderful World, Beautiful People built him a fanbase there. Sitting In Limbo is a great song that Cliff wrote in the wake of Leslie Kong's death. It appeared on the 1971 album Another Cycle but was also added to the soundtrack for The Harder They Come. The film built a cult following in the US but Island turned their attention to Bob Marley and never capitalized on the success of the film to promote Cliff. Cliff moved to Reprise in the US and EMI in England in 1974 but has never reached the heights of The Harder They Come. I suspect many folks are more familiar with his acting but you don't want to overlook Jimmy Cliff's music as an important part of the Jamaican musical landscape. His most recent CD is 2004's Black Magic on Artemis Records. Here's the video for The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff.
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